Television Culture (Studies in Communication Series)

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Important
Review: John Fiske is quite probably one of the most important voices in popular culture criticism today. His name is synonymous with reader-oriented analysis (which explores how readers interpret/use texts, as opposed to text-based, which seems to assume that readers have no agency in interpreting texts). And not only is he important, he is brilliant and--dare I say it about academic criticism--FUN. His celebration of the reader in this book is enlightening and admirable. I recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Important
Review: John Fiske is quite probably one of the most important voices in popular culture criticism today. His name is synonymous with reader-oriented analysis (which explores how readers interpret/use texts, as opposed to text-based, which seems to assume that readers have no agency in interpreting texts). And not only is he important, he is brilliant and--dare I say it about academic criticism--FUN. His celebration of the reader in this book is enlightening and admirable. I recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening
Review: John Fiske takes us into the television world that we take for granted. He analyzes such aspects as Professional Wrestling, Dallas, daytime soap operas, M.A.S.H., the A-team, Miami Vice, Magnum p.i. and Saturday Night Live. He incorporates magazines (Playboy, Vogue), movies (Rambo, Mad Max) and famous celebrities (Madonna). He even looks into game shows such as the Family Feud, and The New Price is Right. He takes a look into the white culture of American media in order to examine televisions influence in popular culture. He explores the questions of why mass population consumes this form of cultural industry. He answers such questions as, who watches what programs and why? How does televisions become so aborted into social lives? Fiske explores the cultural process in which gives these show their meanings. It is an interesting and enlightening insight. It is useful when exploring other sociological theories relating to mass media and popular culture.